1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for processing fish, and more particularly to systems and methods for severing the head of a fish from its body in a reliable and consistent manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In some fish products, the head is removed at the gills, leaving a hard cartilage structure on the head end of the fish called the collar. The viscera, including the gonads (roe or milt) are removed, the kidney membrane is cut and the kidney is removed with water sprays and brushes. In the salmon industry, this product is called a head and gut product and is a valuable commodity. An initial step of preparing such head and gut product is the removal or severing of the head from the body of the fish. Various devices for severing the head of the fish are known, including systems which feature a guillotine knife operated with a pneumatic cylinder which is actuated with compressed air to plunge through fish which are transported beneath the knife.
While known systems have been generally effective in fish head removal, the systems may suffer from various deficiencies and shortcomings, such as, for example, inadvertent damage to the fish resulting from mistiming of guillotine knife devices, and the systems may be overly complex and expensive to produce and/or operate.